Ringleader of beheading plot jailed for life

The ringleader of an Islamist group who plotted to kidnap and behead a British soldier and sent equipment to terrorists in Pakistan was today jailed for life.

High court judge Mr Justice Henriques said Parviz Khan, 37, who was not present for sentencing, would serve a minimum of 14 years.

Khan, of Foxton Road, Alum Rock, Birmingham, last month admitted the kidnap plot, supplying equipment to terrorists on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and two counts of being in possession of records or documents likely to be of use to a terrorist.

The judge, sitting at Leicester crown court, said: "You have been described by the Crown as a man who has the most violent and extreme Islamist views and as a fanatic.

"Having studied over the last month [the covert recordings], I unhesitatingly accept that description of you.

"You not only plotted to kill a soldier but you intended to film a most brutal killing."

The judge said Khan's aim was to deter any Muslim from joining the British army.

"This was not only a plot to kill a soldier but a plot to undermine the morale of the British army and inhibit recruitment," he said.

"It's plain that you were absolutely serious and determined to bring this plot to fruition. Unfortunately your enthusiasm was infectious and you dragged in your co-accused, every one of whom should curse the day they set their eyes on you."

In mitigation, Michael Wolkind QC, defending Khan, told the court that his client's plot had been a "mixture of fanaticism and fantasy".

Referring to the covert monitoring of Khan, he said: "If there had been a genuine threat, the buggers would have stopped it much earlier. There was a long way to go.

"His plan might have changed had British foreign policy changed. He might have withdrawn if the British troops were withdrawn."

But Mr Justice Henriques said: "So rampant are your views, so excitable your temperament, so persuasive your tongue and so imbued with energy are you, it's quite impossible to predict when, if ever, it will be safe for you to be released into the public.

"It was a plot whose purpose was to undermine democratic government, to demoralise the British army and to destabilise recruitment, and to cause anguish to the then prime minister of the day and the loyal citizens of the country."

Khan was given a minimum 14 years for the plot, eight years for the supply of equipment and two and a half years for both counts of being in possession of the records of documents. The sentences will run concurrently.

Sentences were also handed down on the four other men involved in Khan's terrorist cell.

Zahoor Iqbal, 30, of Perry Barr in Birmingham, was jailed for seven years for supplying equipment for terrorist acts and supplying money or property for use in terrorism. The court heard he sent more than £12,000 via a money transfer company in Birmingham to an office in Pakistan, which was retrieved by Khan.

The judge described him as a man of "exemplary character" who had become Khan's "right-hand man".

He said: "I accept that you were an assistant and not an orchestrator."

The judge noted that there had been some 60 character witnesses for Iqbal, "all of which spoke wonderfully well of you".

But he added: "Unfortunately there was a whole separate and distinct compartment in your life. You believed you had an obligation to jihad."

Mohammed Irfan, 31, of Asquith Road, Ward End, was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission of acts of terrorism - namely helping Khan to supply the equipment to Pakistan.

Hamid Elasmar, 44, of Bristol Road, Edgbaston, was jailed for three years and four months for pleading guilty to the same charge.

The judge said they were in a "very similar situation" but that Irfan was involved for a greater period of time.

Gambian Basiru Gassama, 30, of Radstock Avenue, Hodge Hill, was jailed for two years for failing to disclose information about the plot. Having already served that term, he was told that he now faces deportation. Sentencing him, the judge said: "You knew in very great detail what Parviz Khan was planning."

Amjad Mahmood, 32, of Jackson Road, Alum Rock, was cleared of knowing about Khan's plan to behead a British solider and failing to inform the authorities about it.

In a statement read by his lawyer, Mahmood thanked the jury for "all their hard work in coming to the decision about me".

He said: "I am not a terrorist, I am a Muslim. The government has to be responsible about how they deal with people accused of terrorism."

Asking for privacy, he said: "It has been the hardest year of my life. I am looking forward to returning to my family and seeing my six-month-old baby for the first time."

Speaking outside court, Rose-Marie Franton of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The ringleader of this terrorist cell, Parviz Khan, pleaded guilty to a brutal and cold-blooded plot to kidnap and kill a British soldier."

The equipment which was collected and sent to Pakistan was intended to be used "against coalition forces".

The fact that four defendants pleaded guilty to offences showed "how strong" the prosecution case was, she added.